Coaches are common in sports. Why is this? In sports we recognise the role of a coach in helping us to unlock our potential and realise our goals ... to be the best that we can be. Why don't we look so hard at other aspects of ourselves. Are we all so brilliant, living the lives we’ve always dreamed of? Don't we need to expend any effort on thinking through what we really want? Don't we need someone in our corner, pushing and encouraging us to succeed - in whatever it is that makes us feel fantastic, happy, content??
Are you where you want to be?
'I was skating over thin ice'
I’ve been there. I've been in challenging roles where I felt I was skating over thin ice. Cracks were forming in all directions and all I knew to do was keep skating, harder and faster, to keep from falling into mind-numbingly cold, dark waters beneath. Eventually I shared a fraction of how I was feeling with my boss - who suggested a coach. A coach? Surely that meant I was a failure - needing to rely on someone else to get me through? I wasn't a failure ... I was taking the first steps to success. Talk to people around you, people in senior positions at work, people running their own successful businesses, people living the lives they want. You will be surprised. Many of them will have coaches who help them succeed, who help them make it look so easy to others around them.
Focus on the things that really matter to you
What do you want more of?
Coaching offers you time to think about the things in life that really matter - to you. Coaches don’t tell you what to do, what to think, how to behave. They offer an ear and a space just for you. They ask thought-provoking, challenging questions about you, about your hopes and fears, and eventually about what you are committed to doing to make your life the way you want it to be. On top of that coaching can also offer you useful tools and techniques that will:
give you more choice in dealing with certain situations and certain individuals
enable you to access a certain state at will - feeling calm; being confident; being happy
enable you to look at interactions from different perspectives, understanding how your behaviours keep the vicious cycles going that set the tone for your relationship with Person X or Person Y
get your subconscious working on weighing up a thorny choice thats been going round and round your head for ages.
enable you to avoid certain almost-automatic routines (in my case, a glass of wine with my dinner, or that bar of chocolate whilst watching TV) that can sabotage the best of intentions, like those absolutely-meant but so hard to consistently maintain New Year resolutions.
Go it alone?
You don't have to do it alone
If you’re happy to go it alone in life without coaching support, then hats off to you, and I wish you all the luck in the world. Coaching isn’t for everyone. But if you do want someone in your corner, someone who won’t just sympathise but who will push you to pursue your dreams and challenge the thinking that puts unnecessary roadblocks in your path, then it might just be worth giving coaching a try - who knows what could happen?
Unlock your future?
My first interaction with a coach made me realise I was putting unnecessary pressure on myself. Once I released the pressure, it freed me up to get on with work - and with the life outside of work that had been in danger of slipping away from me. It inspired me to become more self-aware and to explore new ways of being, and to eventually start coaching myself. Coaching fulfils me in a way that no other activity has done. Have I achieved everything I wanted out of life? Am I perfect? The answer has to be no. But am I more confident, more self-aware, more at peace with life? Absolutely. I’m happy and content - and I know a lot of people who feel thats unattainable for them. (Its not, they’re just not maybe looking in the right places.)
Try a free introductory session & see what happens!
So back to the question. Coaching - why bother? Why not? Whats the worst that could happen - but more importantly, can you imagine whats the best that could happen? What would that look, sound and feel like? Can you touch it, see it, taste it? You’re one step closer to it if you can get a sense of what you really want. Give coaching a try, and see what it can do for you.
I believe in the power or coaching and the results it delivers, so much so, that I offer a free introductory session to new clients. Spaces are limited so fill out the form below now to start making positive change in your life.
Lemon Squeeze is based in Swindon, Wiltshire
Coaching sessions are available at evenings and weekends to fit around your commitments.